The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lifted its position in The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) by 75.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,684 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 722 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning raised its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 3.1% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,525 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hanover Insurance Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $385,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in The Hanover Insurance Group by 13.2% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 7,737 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in The Hanover Insurance Group by 14.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 11,104 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $1,645,000 after buying an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in The Hanover Insurance Group by 35.4% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 417 shares of the insurance provider’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at The Hanover Insurance Group

In other The Hanover Insurance Group news, EVP Jeffrey M. Farber sold 5,886 shares of The Hanover Insurance Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.05, for a total value of $942,054.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 60,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,635,810.25. The trade was a 8.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 12,100 shares of company stock worth $1,951,223. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays raised The Hanover Insurance Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on The Hanover Insurance Group in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $170.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of The Hanover Insurance Group from $165.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, The Hanover Insurance Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.88.

The Hanover Insurance Group Stock Performance

THG opened at $153.38 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $5.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.22 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $156.01 and a 200-day moving average of $149.49. The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.66 and a 52-week high of $166.13.

The Hanover Insurance Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from The Hanover Insurance Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.85. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The Hanover Insurance Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.71%.

About The Hanover Insurance Group

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various property and casualty insurance products and services in the United States. The company operates through four segments: Core Commercial, Specialty, Personal Lines, and Other. The Commercial Lines segment offers commercial multiple peril, commercial automobile, workers' compensation, and other commercial lines coverage.